IGNPC: You've included some updated victory conditions with Beyond the Sword like a more complex space race victory. Can you tell us a bit about the changes and why they were made?

Alex Mantzaris:

As mentioned earlier, one focus of this expansion was to add more depth to the second half of the game. Restructuring the technology tree and spicing up the spaceship victory were good ways to accomplish that goal. The space race is now more suspenseful because victory is not achieved until the spaceship actually arrives, not when it's launched. Therefore, you may pull out a victory even if you launch late, by building a faster spaceship and overtaking your opponent on the way to Alpha Centauri.

Speaking of victories, there is now a new way to win the game through the Apostolic Palace. This is a Wonder that allows a religion to play a major part in international affairs, centuries before the United Nations make their appearance.

IGNPC: As most Civ 4 fans probably expected, there will be a few new units like the paratrooper. Can you tell us about a couple of them and how they'll make a difference?

Alex Mantzaris:

The paratrooper is quite a fun unit with a unique role. It can perform jumps onto strategic spots in enemy territory before an invasion, as might be expected from previous incarnations of the series. The difference is that the AI now knows how to effectively use it.

However, in general, we added units to fill needed roles, rather then adding exotic units and trying to dream up roles for them. For instance, the Cuirassier is a new mounted unit that takes the place of the old Cavalry unit in the technology tree. We pushed Cavalry back to require rifling, thus extending the age of the musket and making the beeline to Military tradition less of a dominant strategy. Another example of a unit filling a much-needed role is the anti-tank gun, which is an inexpensive early counter to Tanks. You are no longer helpless if your enemy is first to Industrialism and has access to Oil.

IGNPC: What new wonders can we expect to see? Which is the most powerful of the new additions?

Alex Mantzaris:

We added a bunch of new Wonders: The Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum of Maussollos, the Cristo Redentor, the Shwedagon Paya, and the Apostolic Palace. We did our best to make sure that all of these are balanced, so there isn't one of these clearly more powerful than the rest. Having said that, you've got to love a Wonder like the Statue of Zeus, which doubles the war weariness of other civilizations fighting against you.

IGNPC: Give us a round up of some of the cooler new scenario ideas and where they came from.

Alex Mantzaris:

Our scenarios this time are a magnificent display of the modding capabilities of Civilization IV. I am continuously amazed at how some of these scenarios have changed the look and feel of the game. One of them is like Civ in space, set waaay beyond the sword. Another is an X-COM type of game but your enemies are creatures of the afterworld. Some have a fantasy setting, and others have a heavily researched historical setting. And not only do we have our own brilliant game designers working on these scenarios, but we have also recruited the most creative minds of our fan community to design scenarios especially for this expansion pack.

IGNPC: Explain the new advanced start option and how it works? Is it an automatically generated feature or will players have control over what gets placed where? How will it work in multiplayer games?

Alex Mantzaris:

Advanced Starts are a pre-game setup phase players use to purchase cities, improvements, buildings, technologies, and units. It works in both single-player and multi-player. The player decides what to purchase and where to place it. When everyone is done, the game starts with players controlling relatively balanced, advanced empires with a working infrastructure. This mechanism is ideal for those who want to jump right in and experience a balanced game in the modern era, without having to start with nothing but a few settlers and units.